Money-Saving Apps: RepairPal

We’re up to the final round in our five-part series about the best money-saving mobile apps.

So far, we’ve covered Shopkick, an app that rewards you simply for going into your favorite stores; Key Ring Reward Cards, an app that allows you to keep all of your retail rewards cards on your smartphone; GasBuddy, an app that helps you find the cheapest gas prices wherever you are; and RedLaser, an app that finds the lowest

Why you should download it: Ever feel like you’re getting ripped off by your auto mechanic? Yes, that was a rhetorical question. We’ve ALL been there. But with RepairPal, you can get accurate repair and service estimates all over the country.

Whether you suspect the mechanic may be overcharging you or you’re unsure of what a particular repair or service actually means, RepairPal has you covered. RepairPal tells you what the average price is for a repair in your area, recommends the best ways to maintain your vehicle and even helps explain in human-speak why you need the repair… or maybe why you don’t.

The app also helps you locate the nearest tow trucks and get one-touch roadside assistance.And with the intelligent GPS-enabled directory, you can easily find the closest quality auto shop. Ahhh, peace of mind.

How it works: It’s not as simple as it sounds. RepairPal uses a proprietary, patent-pending model to generate a labor rate that takes into account the user’s automobile make, location and service channel. Combine that with multiple proprietary sources for parts prices, adjust for macroeconomic factors and leverage a dedicated in-house team of automotive parts professionals, and RepairPal is able to deliver highly-accurate estimates.

Plus, its expert mechanics offer essential insights that the consumer of each service should know, including information about associated repairs, details about the parts and procedures involved, and warnings about common up-sell pitches.

While the technology behind RepairPal is complex, using the app is easy – all you have to do is download it. Then, simply enter your car model, location and the service or repair you’re having done, and poof: real-time data at your fingertips.

Noteworthy: The application was selected as a Huffington Post “Best Money-Saving App” and as The New York Times APP OF THE WEEK, and was featured as NEW AND NOTEWORTHY on iTunes, where it received an average three out of three stars from 22,972 Ratings.